Paragliding

Don’t let your fears stop you from doing something amazing.

I am scared of heights, terrified. Ok, let’s clarify… I am terrified of falling. So when we traveled to Turkey and ended up in a city called Oludeniz where the sky was full of para-gliders… I was torn. This looked like a beautiful place to para glide, and the people all look like they were having the time of their lives when they were landing on the beach.

After a few days of touring around the town, and hanging out on the beach (which by the way was voted in National Geographic magazine one year as the 2nd most beautiful beach in the world, AND FOR GOOD REASON), I decided I was going to give it a shot. I thought and worried about it all the night before, and had a hard time going to sleep that night.

We woke up pretty early in the morning, because that is when the best para-gliding is, and walked down to the beach. We signed our waivers and paid for our “jump” and they loaded a group of us into a small van. I was so scared I was going to back out that I volunteered to be in the first group to go up that day. The drive up the mountain took about 20 minutes and I refused to talk to really anyone the entire time… I was trying so hard to stay out of my own head and not think too hard about what I was about to do. I had my go pro strapped to my chest and was twiddling my thumbs.

As soon as we reached the top of the mountain we all piled out of the van. We were on a cobblestone platform that looked like it went off into heaven… we were actually in the clouds. They had asked who was ready to go, and again, scared that I was going to back down I volunteered to be the first one to go out. I got all strapped in and before I knew it the guy attached to me told me to start running towards the clouds. I was running and running and running, even when my feet were no longer touching the ground. He finally told me “OK you can sit back now” and I looked down and saw us go over the mountain edge.

I was really nervous so I was asking all sorts of questions, and taking pictures. The view was the most amazing thing I had seen, and I wanted to really enjoy it. The guy asked if I would like to “spin” or fall for a bit, and I said “no thank you!” No way I want to plummet to the ground dude ! Once we were in the air I realized… HEY WHERE ARE THE OTHER PARAGLIDERS. They usually have hundreds in the sky by this time of day. He told me that we were the very first ones out that day as it had been very windy and we were supposed to test the winds and let everyone else know how dangerous it was.

OMG! I didn’t sign up to be the guinea pig!

By the time I landed there were the hundreds of para-gliders in the sky again. The pictures and memories I made can’t be replaced. I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

I celebrated with an entire jug of sangria to myself! CHEERS

Just do it. 

 

The most beautiful beach

Swimming with sharks

Are we really travel savvy ?

How do you not move ?